Zena Elementary principal Therese Higgins to retire on eve of closure

KINGSTON, N.Y. - Zena Elementary School Principal Therese Higgins is retiring March 1, and Superintendent Paul Padalino plans to seek an interim principal to replace her until the end of the school year, when Zena is scheduled to close.

Zena, along with Sophie Finn and Anna Devine elementary schools, are scheduled to close at the end of 2012-13 as part of Padalino's reconfiguration plan. Zena is merging with Edward R. Crosby Elementary School for 2013-14.

JILL ABERLE, president of Zena's Parent-Teacher Association, said Monday she hopes the district has a replacement lined up well in advance of the current principal's last day.

"We don't want to fall to the wayside during the bigger transition," said Aberle.

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Padalino told the school board last week he envisions "at least a short transition time" for an interim principal.

The superintendent indicated there were no immediate in-house candidates to transfer to Zena for the rest of the year, as "all of our principals are in buildings" currently.

Aberle said she would prefer a current Zena teacher is not tapped as interim principal because it would be disruptive for students to lose their teacher in the middle of the school year.

Aberle and other PTA members have wondered if Crosby Principal Marie Anderson could serve as both Crosby's and Zena's principal for the last few months of 2012-13 to help with the transition.

Higgins became Zena's principal in the summer of 2007, replacing Gale Aidala. Prior to that, she had been vice principal at M. Clifford Miller Middle School.

WITH THREE elementary schools closing at the end of 2012-13, Padalino's plan calls for the elimination of three elementary principals, leaving two more administrator jobs to cut after Higgins' retirement, which would happen in reverse order of seniority.

In order, the principals with the least amount of elementary tenure are Vincent DeCicco, the interim principal at Ernest C. Myer Elementary School who took a leave of absence from his job as assistant principal at Kingston High School; Anderson, who took the job at Crosby after serving as the high school's principal for nine years; and Paula Perez, Finn's interim principal and the now-closed Frank L. Meagher Elementary School's former principal.

There could still be other retirements among elementary principals, however, and the status of Ardrea Lambeth-Smith, who has been on administrative leave since June, is unclear.